There are three things that every living plant needs; sunlight, water and love but not necessarily in that order. Love seems to be the easiest because most people don’t raise plants they either don’t love to grow, smell or eat. If you love what you grow then you will make sure they have ample sunlight throughout the day as well as enough water to flourish. However, sometimes it’s hard to know how much water is enough without being too much. Yes, you can actually give your plants too much water.

One of the things that is important to know is that water releases nutrients found in the soil and the root systems of the plants soak up those nutrients and send it to the rest of the plant. Discovering how much you should water so this takes place properly can be a little more difficult because it depends on several factors that include; your soil type, region you live in and what you are growing.

If you live in a tropical area you will have very different watering needs than if you live in an arid climate. The same thing applies if you are growing a type of cactus compared to tomatoes in your back yard garden. It always helps if you know the consistency of your soil. If you don’t know where this can be found, call the agriculture department to the University nearest you and they can point you in the right direction. If you don’t have a University near you call the US Department of Agriculture and find out if they have a lab you can send a soil sample to for analysis. Most of the time for a small fee you can have the answer back in a few months.

Armed with this information, go to the internet and research to find everything you can find on the type of plants you are either growing or want to grow. You should be able to easily find out everything including how much or little water is required to grow it in your region. You will also discover your regions growing time to make sure you have enough time to grow the plants in your yard and garden.

I recently spoke to one of my neighbors who for the last two years have let his garden area go. I found out that he had hurt his back and was having trouble so much pain bending over that planting, weeding and harvesting was not something he could easily do anymore. As we talked I asked him about another small raised bed in his front yard that he continued to use to raise tomatoes and basil and he told me it was high enough that he could reach it and tend to it as needed.

I went home that night thinking about what could be done to help my neighbor continue to garden without pain and got an idea that I spoke to him about the next day. He was very excited!

His garden was 20 feet x 16 feet and located on a slope. He had used timbers to create a boundary around the space and had small areas portioned off to plant flowers around the garden. We went in and took the timbers out and created 2 raised beds that stand about 3 feet off the ground and run horizontal to the slope and are 16 feet by 4 feet. We were able to reuse almost all of the timber so there was little out of pocket cost and the dirt from the garden was used to fill the raised beds.

I was actually shocked that we were able to do everything with the dirt that was in the garden. The hardest part was pulling up the weeds and grass that had taken over but once that was done it was just a matter of good old fashioned shoveling. We took strawberries that had gone crazy in the old garden space and replanted them in one raised bed to create a strawberry patch. The other has an array of plants including more tomatoes, sweet potatoes and peppers of several varieties.

We used some trellises from the old garden as well so the tomatoes will grow up them and leave room for everything else to grow. I see my neighbor almost everyday out watering and weeding and he is extremely thankful that a solution was reached so he could go back and garden the way he loves to.

When faced with a challenge, use your imagination and see if you too can find a new solution to an old problem.

If you have a love of gardening that can’t be contained into the spring and summer months, consider all the great gifts you can give from things that have sprung from your garden. Explore holiday gift giving garden style!

If you grew an abundance of vegetables this year, you likely took advantage of canning in order to preserve many of these items for use all year long. Canned tomatoes, pickles, preserves and other homegrown items make great gift ideas for the holiday season. Similarly, if you grew a bountiful herb garden, dry these herbs to give away, crush them into pretty glass containers, or even place them in oil in large glass vases for display. You can preserve many plants in your garden by trimming them, potting them, and growing them indoors. Consider giving smaller versions of your favorite garden plants as gifts. Your friends and family will appreciate your garden as much as you do when you give them fresh and homemade items you grew and prepared yourself. Spread your love of gardening to those closest to you with these great gardening items for gift giving.

Basil is a widely used herb that is a wonderful addition to many dishes. Served fresh, or stored to be dried, basil is also easy to grow. Sweet basil is probably the most popular, and is best used fresh. On the other hand, Thai basil is more potent, has a strong licorice flavor, and is best used as an addition to many hot dishes. Purple basil is a touch stronger than sweet basil and holds a deep eggplant color. Napolitano basil is commonly used fresh on traditional Italian pizzas.

No matter what type of basil you choose to grow, you must wait until after the last frost, as basil does best in warmer temperatures and frost will most likely kill your basil. Whether you grow your basil indoors, or outdoors keep it in full sun and water it whenever the soil is dry. Basil is susceptible to aphid infestation, so if you notice large holes in the leaves of your basil, try a natural aphid killer to alleviate this issue. Experiment with different types of basil, and enjoy a variety of culinary creations.

Every summer when we get together with friends this topic comes up. It’s because we all have a different way of preparing Bruchetta as well as have slightly different ingredients. No one ever complains about the other we just can’t figure out if there is a right or wrong way to make this wonderful dish.

If you are not familiar with Bruchetta it is made of tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella cheese at its core. Of course some add salt and pepper, onions and garlic and a host of other things from time to time to make it even more interesting. All this is normally served over good hearty toasted bread in slices or diced up and scoped out on the bread slices. The main thing you need to know is you can’t ruin this dish as it is flipping fantastic if you use fresh ingredients and that includes homegrown organic tomatoes. There are so many recipes online you can have a blast just looking at them all. Experiment and let me know what you think is the best. In the end, that’s all that matters anyway!

It’s always fun to get together and share a garden. You find out a lot about likes and dislikes when family and friends start talking about all the things they want to grow. If you have a limited space, you have to make some hard choices; thus the choices in our garden this year with several other families. We ended up planting Lemon Balm for one couple who love to put it in their iced tea throughout the summer; cilantro fro two couples who love Mexican dishes an salsa all summer long.

We wanted to try Stevia this year as we have another friend who grows and harvests it year round. There are the staples of culinary including Basil, Mint, Thyme, Rosemary, Dill and Oregano of which we all use for a multitude of recipes. It has been fun to explore the ends and outs of each of these herbs and how they are grown and harvested. I can’t say that we have had a 100% success rate but we are really close to it! Our motto is try once, if we don’t succeed, try twice. If we don’t succeed, buy it!

Everyone needs a place to go and escape and get lost in their own little world.  My place is my home garden greenhouse that sits in my backyard. It is inside this wonderful space of fragrant blooms that I can put aside any stress of my day.  I know when the world around me gets crazy I have a tranquil, peaceful space waiting for me at home.  It is here I find peace and quiet and a calm I cannot totally explain.

However, it is my world of lush green flowers and herbs, a place I can grow and be a part of the earth on a year-round basis.  There is no better place to get back in touch than spending some time in nature.  Since most of us don’t have a lot of “nature” in our backyards, you can create your own garden oasis with a garden greenhouse.  After just an hour or so of escape, I am ready to reenter the real world refreshed and ready to go.

I highly recommend playing in a little dirt everyday as it sooths the soul.  There is no better way to accomplish this than with a wonderful greenhouse.

Gardening enthusiasts are always keen to try out new things. However, the novice gardener usually starts with a few flowering or ornamental plants and after getting some success, shifts to other areas like vegetable or herb gardening. You will find growing vegetables and herbs in your garden or raised beds and pots will give you a great deal of pleasure.

There is a variety of herbs you can grow in planters and raised beds.  This allows you to grow your own even if pressed for space.  Some of the best herbs that are sometimes better contained in planters, window boxes or raised beds are mint, coriander and rosemary.  The herbs will thrive and easily satisfy the requirements of the gardener and/or the cook!  You will get so much satisfaction cooking with and eating something you have produced. 

Planters can be fun as well as easy to manage because you can move them wherever there is adequate light and mix and match as you please.  Because planters and raised beds are movable and flexible enough to experiment with and to plant many different varieties of plants, herbs and vegetables, they are a must for any serious gardener and great for the beginner.